


Tell Them

by ravens_writes



Category: Original Work
Genre: Ash - Freeform, Climate Change, Fires, Oregon - Freeform, Original work - Freeform, Poetry, Rain, a poem I wrote - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-09
Updated: 2018-12-09
Packaged: 2019-09-14 14:52:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 514
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16914954
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ravens_writes/pseuds/ravens_writes
Summary: A poem I wrote in 7th grade based on Kathy Jetnil-Kijiner's poem "Tell Them".





	Tell Them

I prepared the memory box

full of things to remember

Some memories good

others

not so good

but either way,

they needed to be shared.

 

The box contained these things…

 

photos of our Willamette River

slicing our city in half

of shallow creeks

splashing happily through forests

 

Friendship bracelets

with beads woven in

bought at the Oregon Zoo gift shop

 

Notes passed between two friends

full of gossip

tales of boredom

tidbits of news on crushes

 

Paperback copies of OBOB books

dog-eared corners worn smooth

taped covers

slightly crumpled pages

Books about families

friendships

everything from magic

to Mars

to zombies

 

Ziploc bags filled to the brim with ash

swiped off cars

parked

in streets

in driveways

in alleys

 

Printed screenshots of temperatures and ocean levels

both rising dramatically

along with charts

showing the gradually worsening

air quality

 

It rained one day this summer.

We cannot evade the blame for this.

It is our fault

was our fault

and will always be our fault.

Too many cars have been driven too many times

Too many animals

have been cruelly bred

just so we can eat them

Too much electricity wasted on stupidly

unnecessary things

 

Why?

Why is this even happening?

 

I’ll tell you why.

 

It’s happening because people

are being ignorant.

 

Either

they don’t care

or

they’re unaware

that

every little thing they do

whether it be

leaving the water running

while brushing teeth

or

leaving the basement light on

or even

driving four blocks to the corner store

contributes to climate change.

 

I am a Portland girl.

I am rain,

drumming on rooftops

I am golden sunlight,

filtering through leaves

I am the ever-growing trees

the rushing river

the light blue skies.

 

I am traffic-jammed bridges

and cotton ball clouds

and polka-dot umbrellas

I am so many things.

Too many things to list

but

they are all unique to Portland.

 

I don’t want to lose my rain.

I don’t want to lose my shine.

I don’t want to lose my blue skies

dotted with white clouds

like sheep in a meadow

and

I won’t.

I won’t lose my drumbeat rain

or

my leaf-filtered shine

or

my sheep-meadow skies.

 

It will not happen.

And

you know what?

You can help.

You can help me

keep my rain

and my shine

and everything that

makes me a Portland girl.

 

Walk to Starbucks.

Take the bus to work.

Attach solar panels

to your roof.

Or

you could even

turn the lights off

when you don’t need them.

 

Do whatever it takes

to save my city

and the rest of the world.

 

Tell this to other people.

 

Tell them

we are losing the world

we know and love.

 

Tell them

the Arctic ice is melting

and

it is melting fast.

 

Tell them

all these things

and

then

you tell them

we

need

this life

to be the best we can have

Without an ash-filled world

Without dry riverbeds

where there once were

churning rivers flowing

Without 100º summers

which had been 70º summers

in the past.

 

I don’t want this.

Nobody wants this.

Don’t let it happen.

**Author's Note:**

> hope you liked it!  
> Bug out!  
> -Ravens
> 
> Kudos and comments are always appreciated.
> 
> Tumblr: [xthreeravensx](https://xthreeravensx.tumblr.com)


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